Although small in size, this guitar boasts surprising projection. In fact, it was even used on a NASA mission and enjoyed by musicians such as Kurt Cobain and Eric Clapton!
A select hardwood high-performance taper neck connected by a dovetail joint at the fourteenth fret is joined to a dreadnought body at its 14th fret for ease of play and resonance. A Katalox 20-fret fingerboard offers a comfortable playing experience and plenty of resonance.
Body & Neck
Studio-1 Vintage Martin guitar bodies provide its shape and sound. Martin pioneered dreadnought guitars; today, their X-bracing is interwoven with modern acoustic models.
Martin Guitar began by using numbers and letters to identify different body sizes; by the 1830s, however, he started using a dash between size and style names as is customary today. The numbers on either side of the dash represent body sizes, while letters represent models that may contain specific woods or features associated with that model name.
Martin OMs feature scalloped bracing and long-scale necks with 14 frets for picking. Their design was originally intended as replacements for banjos in dance orchestra rhythm sections; therefore, their 14-fret neck is designed for pick use.
Hardware
Martin was in difficulty during the 1920s and needed to innovate to stay alive. Their Orchestra Model guitar (often called Dreadnought guitars) marked an initial major break with convention by combining an OM body size with 14-fret neck and body braces tailored for steel strings – making it far more popular than Classical models and helping revive Martin.
The Dreadnought has quickly become the go-to acoustic guitar shape today. Featuring a deep design capable of projecting its sound through a band, its size has allowed musicians from a range of genres and styles (Jazz musicians, Country singers and rock bands alike) to utilise its sound over a large area. David Gilmour himself was particularly fond of using it.
Electronics
Many Martin acoustic guitar models feature Fishman pickups and preamps that provide your natural sound through an amp or PA system, enabling you to maintain its tone while providing enough power and range to meet any performance situation. This partnership helps preserve the tone of your Martin acoustic-electric guitar while giving it enough range to meet any venue or performance type.
Martin guitars meet stringent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards of sustainable forestry management. To be sure your new acoustic-electric guitar is made from responsibly harvested and managed forests, look for the FSC and Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on our site to verify.
Body sizes have evolved over the years, while original trim styles remain. Our current system places size on one side and style on the other of each nut for easy installation.
In January 2020, we introduced the SC-13E as an upgraded performance-oriented version of our Standard Series guitars. Featuring a 13-fret neck with shallower depth and unique asymmetrical body shape, as well as easy-to-use Fishman MX-T or LR Baggs Element electronics with customised tonal responses for a crisp feedback-resistant tone response, this guitar offers exceptional sound quality and user convenience.
Sound
Studio-1 Vintage Martin guitar bodies set the bar when it comes to acoustic guitars. Their balanced tones, which tend toward darker mid-range notes, make them suitable for practically every genre of music – particularly blues and folk. Martin also produces excellent electric acoustic models equipped with Fishman electronics designed to maintain a natural tone when amplified.
Martin guitars are famous for their soundboards, constructed of Sitka or Lutz spruce (or sometimes hybrids of both). Both wood types produce rich and balanced tones with lots of harmonic overtones; Martin sources its supply from responsibly managed forests to ensure the sustainable harvest of this precious resource.
Martin made history when they introduced the iconic dreadnought body shape – still popular today – as well as other revolutionary technologies like X-bracing and dovetail neck joints, which facilitate tonal energy transfer from the neck to the body of their guitars.
Every Martin guitar is different characterised by unique characteristics. For instance, modern OM models may feature narrower neck profiles compared to traditional models and could come equipped with bridges made of materials such as ebony.